Mailbag: How important is the combine?

(Editor's Note: Time to check the mail! The DallasCowboys.com staff writers answer your questions here in 'Mailbag' presented by Miller Lite.)

What are your thoughts on the Scouting Combine? I would think that film work and scouting last fall during the season would play a much bigger role in evaluating players, but the combine has become such a spectacle. Is it really as important as the NFL markets it to be? – Paul Richards/Albuquerque, NM

Nick: I think the combine serves a lot of purposes for a lot of people. From a fan's perspective, it probably doesn't seem to be a huge deal because a lot of the events can, and do, take place elsewhere, such as Pro Days. For something that has been nicknamed the "Underwear Olympics," I can see where one might think it's a bit overrated.

But to me, the biggest factor in the combine is the simple fact that it's a place where all 32 teams can visit and get a front-row seat of over 300 prospects. Sure, you could just let the colleges host the Pro Days, but you wouldn't get as many eyeballs on the players as they do in this venue.

However, I do understand the nature of the question because it's easy to wonder that when certain players - mainly the top projected players - choose not to participate. Those guys have the luxury while others view it as the ideal opportunity to prove themselves. So like with anything in life, the combine can prove to be vital for some players, fairly important to others and then rather insignificant to others. But you called it a 'spectacle' and when you consider it's late February and we're just getting started into the 2025 offseason, the NFL must consider that a win, knowing how many eyeballs are on their sport, even though the season ended just a few weeks ago.

Patrik: I believe it's important to a degree, though maybe not as much as some believe it to be. I wouldn't be an advocate for scrapping it, but I wouldn't mind tailoring it to make more sense, positionally-speaking. For example, I wouldn't have an offensive lineman running the 40-yard dash and risking an injury when the likelihood of it ever mattering that he can run a 5.03s dash is slimmer than Calvin Klein pants. There are drills that make sense (e.g., cone drills) and the measurements component is key as well, and though I could argue these things could be done at each school's respective pro day, the NFL Combine provides a centralized environment that is extremely efficient over flying all around the country to get your eyes on the top prospects' drills and measurements.

Of course, film will always matter more than anything you see at the Combine, save for a record-breaking 40-yard dash, but I guess that's also to my point as well: if Xavier Worthy breaks the record at Texas' pro day and not the combine, the level of scrutiny for it would've been never-ending due to the lack of eyes on it and the non-neutral environment in which it took place. So, yes, I'm all for the combine continuing but, no, I am not for some of the outdated rituals of it (and rampant pomp and circumstance) that exist solely for intentionally making it a spectacle. Simply put: anything that happens at the combine should only influence you positively on a prospect. Considering you have a lot of film on the player, nothing at the combine should drop their stock, because, again, film is king.